The Shepherd and the Star - Part X
The Morning Star split the cosmos as it launched out of an emerald vortex and twirled from the excess energy until the front engine coils sparked on, and started to revolve it back to a common pose. The crew struggled into their seats as the old vessel dawdled, and Vahagnae looked out from his place within the cockpit. There was no vocal response as his eyes welled up with an almost eager sense of terror as the object of the Agency’s curiosity came into view. Daniels had to hold his jaw beneath a devastating silence. The extraterrestrial craft was a monstrous titan fashioned by the alien hands of an infantile space. It’s broad, metal skin darkened by the shadows that prowled on the solar system’s very rim as the ship plummeted like a dart that had missed its mark, into the depths of the universe. It was hard to make out which was the front and which was the back as it soared down and twisted a mammoth tail of space dusts and asteroids behind it, implying that it had been adrift for a long time. The Morning Star spun to one side as the appropriate engines fired up and sent it spiralling down after the sinister giant, careful to elude contact with the thousands of rocks that were being exhaled from the tail. The smaller ones pelted off the ‘Star’s armour, but it had to execute some rather dicey manoeuvres to evade the heavier ones as they spun out towards it. Vahagnae snatched up the radio from the console. *‘Commander, are you ready to go down there?’ the captain’s voice hummed into the docking bay as the Commander secured herself into the navigation seat of a heavy transport. One of the agents joined her in the short cockpit, whilst the others tended to their own transports – all of which faced the airlock. As the last hatch of the final transport sealed, she flipped on the small radio in her helmet and activated the light beam of her visor. *‘All ready, captain.’ She verified as she pulled forward the navigation panels and gripped the ship’s reins. The engines started to charge up, and the others followed suit. The Morning Star was trapped in a constant spin as it rushed beyond safe speeds through the blur of gases and rocks being ignited from the rear of the alien ship. The ‘Star’s hull stooped up as it hastened towards its target, completely oblivious to the enemy that approached from behind. The General’s stolen warship was on an intercept course by auto-pilot, and on every one of the ancient hallways within sat a pile of explosive charges, each hooked to the barrels of the emerald energy she took from Europa...The most powerful substance known to the UA. The warship swayed past the asteroids and dived into the gaseous tail from above, and drifted only a few kilometres behind the Morning Star where it proceeded to follow their every move. The radar within the cockpit was nebulous from the interference, and the vessel was slowing to pull off a final tactic. The hull became still, and the airlocks hidden beneath blasted open and sent vibrations throughout the whole of the lower decks. The three heavy transports dropped out with the Commander’s in the lead, and the Morning Star began to lift out of the gas clouds. As it rose out of the way, the Commander saw the warship as it swayed behind and began to rise as well. The agent beside her clicked on his own radio. *‘Captain Vahagnae, you have a bogey on your tail I repeat, a bogey on your tail!’ his voice showered the cockpit of the ‘Star’ as the crew became aware of their pursuit. *‘It’s her! Of course, she knew we were coming!’ Vahagnae said and didn’t have time to drop the radio. As the Morning Star started to gather back up its speed, the warship suddenly leapt forward forcefully towards the three small transports and then, as they split off under the shadow of the colossus they were chasing – the warship detonated. The entire tail lit up like a sizzling serpent as the ‘Star’s engines became enflamed and it whirled backwards into the jade inferno. The radio transmission echoed out screams before it fizzed up. The Commander’s eyes widened for a moment, before she shook off the emotion and focused onward. The flames shrouded up the gases and many of the larger rocks started to explode as the chemicals became suicidal in the midst of the chaos, and one of the transports started to roll and rotate as its engines sparked up. The three agents within struggled for control as the craft became overwhelmed with energy, and burst into a blaze. *‘We’ve lost strike team B and C isn’t on the scope, commander...!’ the agent beside her said as he too began to doubt the emotional control of his neural implants ‘we’re alone now, sir.’ The two agents sat behind them shared painful glances and as the small ship hurdled up and out of the snake of flames beneath, a heavy silence harassed the interior. The Commander, who now had complete control of the mission, gulped deeply. *‘No change then, eh?’ she tried to reassure them ‘We can mourn them later-...’ *‘-But agents don’t mourn!’ he attacked the very idea, which forced the Commander to look at him. *‘...Then what are we?’ she said, and turned her head back. He fell back into his seat in silence as the Commander pulled the controls to one side, and subsequently made the ship dive again. She looked down and realised that they had navigated the tail’s storm and were drifting above the vast armour plates of their goal. She flicked a switch beneath her console and released control. *‘I’ve locked onto its gravitational field. We’re in the clear.’ She restored a certain amount of their confidence ‘Down there, look...’ They leant forward as the craft lowered towards the skin of the alien vessel, and spotted many much smaller transport pods attached. *‘That’s how they got in. Hopefully, they’ll now be under the impression that the blast got to all of us.’ She whispered coldly ‘I know, it’s grim, but maybe we can appreciate the General’s lack of compassion, and use it as a plus.’ The transport unshielded its legs and stepped down against the frozen surface of the ship inaudibly, and from its belly lowered a small tunnel which slammed against the shell. The Commander slipped out of the navigator’s seat and leapt past the others, then kneeled and snatched a small device from the large console to her side. She hit a trigger and the tongue of the device uncurled and sparked up, and she pressed it against the alien armour and held it down. It started to, very slowly, burn through. in Part XI